N.J. Stat. tit. 19, ch. 5

in effect

N.J. Stat. § 19:5-1 Powers of and restrictions upon political parties; party columns on official ballot

A political party may nominate candidates for public office at primary elections provided for in this Title, elect committees for the party within the State, county or municipality, as the case may be, and in every other respect may exercise the rights and shall be subject to the restrictions herein provided for political parties; except that no political party which fails to poll at any primary election for a general election at least ten per centum (10%) of the votes cast in the State for members of the General Assembly at the next preceding general election, held for the election of all of the members of the General Assembly, shall be entitled to have a party column on the official ballot at the general election for which the primary election has been held. In such case the names of the candidates so nominated at the primary election shall be printed in the column or columns designated "Nomination by Petition" on the official ballot under the respective titles of office for which the nominations have been made, followed by the designation of the political party of which the candidates are members. Amended by L.1948, c. 438, p. 1696, s. 4.

N.J. Stat. § 19:5-2 Membership and organization of municipal committees.

19:5-2. The members of the municipal committees of political parties shall consist of the elected members of the county committee resident in the respective municipalities. The members of the municipal committee shall take office by the third Saturday following the certification of the results of their election as members of the county committee, on which day the terms of all members of such committees theretofore elected shall terminate. The annual meeting of each municipal committee shall be held by the third Saturday following the certification of the results of the primary election for the general election, at an hour and place to be designated in a notice to be given by the chairperson to each member and member-elect. The members of each committee shall elect some suitable person who shall be a resident of such municipality as chairperson. The municipal committee shall have power to adopt a constitution and bylaws for its proper government. The chairperson shall preside at all meetings of the committee, and shall perform all duties required by law and the constitution and bylaws of such committee. When a member of a municipal committee ceases to be a resident of the district or unit from which elected, a vacancy on the committee shall exist. A member of a municipal committee of any political party may resign their office to the committee of which they are a member, and upon acceptance thereof by the committee a vacancy shall exist. A vacancy in the office of a member of a municipal committee of any political party, howsoever caused, shall be filled for the unexpired term by the remaining members of the committee in the municipality in which the vacancy occurs. Amended 1979, c.458, s.1; 2009, c.135, s.1; 2021, c.108, s.1.

N.J. Stat. § 19:5-2.1 Access to financial records of municipal committees; request by persons elected to membership in committee

In the time intervening between a primary election at which the members of a municipal committee of a political party are elected and the annual meeting of the municipal committee as provided by R.S. 19:5-2, any person elected to membership on that municipal committee at that election may request, in writing and by certified mail, either access to the complete financial records of the municipal committee or a copy of the balance sheet of the municipal committee showing the assets and liabilities of the municipal committee as of the close of business on the date of that primary election. The person requesting that access or copy of the balance sheet shall receive the access or copy so requested within 48 hours of the receipt of that request by the committee. L.1983, c. 579, s. 22, eff. Jan. 17, 1984.

N.J. Stat. § 19:5-3 Membership and organization of county committees; vacancies; certification of unit of representation and number of election districts.

19:5-3. The members of the county committees of political parties shall be elected at the primary for the general election in the manner provided in this Title for the selection of party candidates to be voted for at the general election by voters of a municipality at such intervals as shall be provided in the bylaws of the county committee. The county committee shall consist of one male and one female member from each unit of representation in the county. The male receiving the highest number of votes among the male candidates and the female receiving the highest number of votes among the female candidates shall be declared elected. Members of the county committee shall actually reside in the districts or units which they respectively represent. The county committee shall determine by its bylaws the units into which the county shall be divided for purpose of representation in the county committee. The members of the county committee of each of the political parties shall take office by the third Saturday following the certification of the results of their election, on which day the terms of all members of such committees theretofore elected shall terminate. The annual meeting of each county committee shall be held by the third Saturday following the certifications of the results of the primary election, except that when such meeting day falls on a legal holiday then the said meeting shall be held on the day following, and when such meeting day falls on the day of a municipal runoff election within the county then said meeting may be held on the day following, at an hour and place to be designated in a notice in writing to be mailed by the chairperson to each member and member-elect. If the annual meeting coincides with a period of religious observance, the meeting may be held on another date, and under no circumstances shall that date occur later than the third Tuesday following the certification of the results of the primary election. The members of such committee shall elect some suitable person as chairperson who shall be a resident of such county to hold office until a successor is elected. The chairperson of the outgoing county committee shall transmit, with the notice of the annual meeting, a copy of the constitution and bylaws to any newly elected committee member. The members shall also elect a vice-chairperson of the opposite sex of the chairperson to hold office for 1 year or until a successor is elected and the vice-chairperson shall perform all duties required by law and the constitution and bylaws of such committee. Any person elected or appointed to membership on the county committee pursuant to R.S.19:5-2 may request, in writing and by certified mail to the county chairperson, such constitution or bylaws currently in effect. The committee member requesting the constitution or bylaws shall receive the constitution or bylaws within 48 hours of the receipt of the request by the chairperson. The chairperson shall preside at all meetings of the committee and shall perform all duties required by law and the constitution and bylaws of such committee. When a member of a county committee ceases to be a resident of the district or unit from which elected, a vacancy on the county committee shall exist. A member of a county committee of any political party may resign their office to the committee of which they are a member, and upon acceptance thereof by the committee, a vacancy shall exist. A vacancy in the office of a member of the county committee of any political party, caused by death, resignation, failure to elect, or removal for cause, shall be filled for the unexpired term by the municipal committee of the municipality wherein the vacancy occurs, if there is such committee, and if not, by the remaining members of the county committee of such political party representing the territory in the county in which such vacancy occurs. The chairperson of the outgoing county committee shall provide a copy of the constitution and bylaws to any committee member appointed pursuant to R.S.19:5-2 to fill a vacancy within three business days of the committee member's selection. The chairperson of the county committee of the several political parties shall, before April 1 in a year in which county committee members are to be elected, certify to the clerk of each municipality in the county the unit of representation in such municipality, together with the enumeration of the election district or districts embraced within such unit. Amended 1946, c.11, ss.3,17 (1946, c.11, ss.3,17; repealed 1948, c.2, s.32); 1948, c.2, s.4; 1955, c.236; 1964, c.23; 1965, c.4, s.3; 1966, c.19, s.2; 1967, c.7, s.2; 1967, c.26, s.2; 1968, c.292, s.2; 1978, c.29; 1979, c.458, s.2; 1980, c.105, s.3; 2009, c.135, s.2; 2011, c.180; 2021, c.108, s.2.

N.J. Stat. § 19:5-3.1 Access to financial records of county committees; request by persons elected to membership in committee

In the time intervening between a primary election at which the members of a county committee of a political party are elected and the annual meeting of the county committee as provided by R.S. 19:5-3, any person elected to membership on that county committee at that election may request, in writing and by certified mail, either access to the complete financial records of the county committee or a copy of the balance sheet of the county committee showing the assets and liabilities of the county committee as of the close of business on the date of that primary election. The person requesting that access or copy of the balance sheet shall receive the access or copy so requested within 48 hours of the receipt of that request by the committee. L.1983, c. 579, s. 23, eff. Jan. 17, 1984.

N.J. Stat. § 19:5-3.2 Adoption of constitution, bylaws by county committee, posting on Internet website.

3. The members of the county committee of a political party shall adopt a constitution and bylaws, ensuring fundamental fairness and the rights of the members of the county committee in the governance of the county party. The constitution and bylaws of a county committee shall be posted and displayed on its Internet website, if the committee has a website. A county committee shall provide a copy of its constitution and bylaws to the county board of elections of the county, and the constitution and bylaws shall be posted and displayed on the county board's Internet website, if the county board has a website. L.2009, c.135, s.3.

N.J. Stat. § 19:5-4b State committee members, political parties, elections.

12. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the members of the State committee of each of the political parties shall not be elected at the primary election for the general election. The members shall be elected by the members of the county committee of the respective political parties, at a time and in a manner to be determined by each respective political party, and in accordance with the constitution and bylaws of such party. b. A vacancy in the office of a member of the State committee of any political party, howsoever caused, shall be filled for the unexpired term by the members of the county committee of such political party in the county in which the vacancy occurs in accordance with the constitution and bylaws of such party. c. Any person elected as a member of the State committee of a political party pursuant to subsection a. of this section, or selected to fill a vacancy in the membership of a State committee, may request, in writing and by certified mail, either access to the complete financial records of the State committee or a copy of the balance sheet of the State committee showing the assets and liabilities of the State committee as of the close of business on the date of their election or selection. The person requesting that access or copy of the balance sheet shall receive the access or copy so requested within 48 hours of the receipt of that request by the committee. L.2025, c.32, s.12.

N.J. Stat. § 19:5-5 Maintenance of party organization

Any State committee, county committee or municipal committee of any political party may receive and disburse moneys for the general purposes of maintaining such organization during the whole or any part of the year. The expenses for maintenance of organization shall be confined to the hiring or acquisition of suitable quarters for meetings of such committee, for stationery, for hiring of necessary clerks, for the expenses of notices of the meetings of such committee, for giving publicity to the policies and candidates of their respective party organizations, and other expenses incidental to the maintenance of such organization. Amended by L.1973, c. 83, s. 27, eff. April 24, 1973.

N.J. Stat. § 19:5-6 Annual convention; members; time and place, platform; resolutions and public hearings

There shall be held in each year in which all members of the General Assembly are to be elected, a State convention of each of the political parties. Such State convention of each party shall consist of the following members: (1) The party candidates for the following offices: (a) Members of the Senate or House of Representatives of the United States from this State, nominated at the party primaries held for the nomination of candidates for any of said offices immediately preceding the convention. (b) State Senator nominated, in each county, at the party primaries, held for the nomination of a candidate for said office, immediately preceding the convention, and (c) Members of the General Assembly, nominated in each county, at the party primaries immediately preceding the convention, if the convention is to be held in a year in which all of the members of the General Assembly are to be elected; or all of the party candidates for said offices, in each county, who were voted upon and were not elected at the general election held in the year immediately preceding the convention, if the convention is to be held in a year other than one in which all of the members of the General Assembly are to be elected, except that any candidates nominated for the filling of vacancies, in said offices, at the party primaries held in the year in which the convention is held, shall replace, to an equal number, the candidates so voted upon and not elected at the general election held in the preceding year, who received the least number of votes in said general election; (2) The candidate of the party for Governor nominated at the primaries in said year; (3) Members of the State Senate and of the General Assembly belonging to the party who are holding office at the time of the State convention and whose successors are not to be chosen at the ensuing general election; (4) Members of the State Committee chosen as herein provided; (5) Members of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States from this State, belonging to such party, who are holding office at the time of the holding of the State convention and whose successors are not to be chosen at the ensuing general election; (6) Members of the National Committee from this State; and (7) The county chairperson and vice chairperson of the several county committees. The convention of each party shall be held at the city of Trenton on the second Thursday after the primary election for the general election in each year in which all members of the General Assembly are to be elected. When the day prescribed by law for holding State conventions of political parties, or any adjournment thereof, falls on a legal holiday, the convention or adjournment thereof, as the case may be, shall be held on the day preceding such legal holiday. The place and the hour at which the convention shall meet shall be fixed by call of the existing State Committee to be issued at least 5 days prior to the date of meeting. If no call is issued by the State Committee, any person qualified to sit in the convention may issue a call. The convention of each party shall have power to adopt and promulgate a party platform for its party, and to transact such other business as may properly come before it. The convention of each political party, in this Title authorized, upon convening, shall appoint a committee on resolutions consisting of five members. The convention shall then be open for the reception of all proposed planks for the party platform, which planks shall be referred to the committee on resolutions, whose duty it shall be to prepare a tentative party platform and furnish it to each member of the convention within 75 days. The committee on resolutions of each political party shall hold a minimum of three public hearings throughout the State. A number of such public hearings shall be held in the evenings, if feasible, to give the largest possible number of people an opportunity to express their views. The State convention of each political party shall adjourn to meet again at its originally set meeting place not later than 90 days after the initial adjournment of such convention. The State chairman of each political party shall set the date of the adjourned meeting of his party. A notice of the date of the adjourned meeting of each political party shall be furnished to each member of each respective convention not later than 15 days prior to such adjourned meeting. At such meeting the respective conventions shall consider and may adopt the draft of the platform so prepared by the committee on resolutions with such amendments as shall be suggested and adopted in the conventions as a whole. The voting on the adoption of the party platform shall be on the entire platform as reported by the committee on resolutions, unless there be an objection to any separate plank or planks or to any amendment thereto, in which case the voting on such plank or planks or amendment shall be by the "ayes" and "nays" of the members of the convention present and voting. The provisions of this section shall not preclude the holding of additional State conventions of the political parties at such times as the State Committees of the parties shall determine. Amended by L.1948, c.216, s.2; 1950, c.35, s.1; 1958, c.125, s.1; 1959, c.99, s.1; 1977, c. 145, s. 1; L.1979, c. 423, s. 1, eff. Feb. 8, 1980.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-activity/statutesFetched: 10/17/2026